Comparison shopping engine NexTag buys a German firm

By Thad RueterSenior Editor

Guenstiger.de offers reviews, recommendations and product availability to European shoppers.

NexTag, which operates a comparison shopping site, said today it will buy Guenstiger.de GmbH, a Germany-based provider of online comparison shopping services. NexTag said it acquired the German firm with cash and stock but did not disclose the purchase price. The deal is subject to regulatory approval.

Guenstiger provides reviews, recommendations and local product availability to online consumers in five other countries besides Germany: Austria, Hungary, Poland, Russia and Switzerland.

“Over the past 10 years, Guenstiger has placed a premium on building an outstanding user experience and market-leading brand in the German market and other countries. Consequently, Guenstiger has an extremely loyal user base and a reputation as one of the most authoritative and trusted comparison shopping sites in Europe," says Jeffrey Katz, CEO of NexTag. “By joining forces with Guenstiger, we will quickly accelerate our growth internationally, diversify our traffic sources and deliver a shopping experience that consumers love and merchants value.”

Related Articles

Katz says that Guenstiger's managing directors Philipp Hartmann, Aske Magdalinski, and Torsten Schnoor will join NexTag and continue to lead Guenstiger after the transaction closes.

The deal is NexTag’s third acquisition over the past year. In July, the company, which operates NexTag.com, bought Wize.com, an online product recommendation research engine. In November, NexTag bought NextCoupons.com, an online discount site.

According to October figures from web measurement firm comScore Inc., sites operated by NexTag ranked tenth among U.S. comparison shopping sites, with nearly 7.3 million unique visitors that month.